


Come here

by cyoza



Category: Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Mother-Son Relationship, Past Abuse, Physical Abuse, dick the dad in the backgrond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 00:54:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21578740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyoza/pseuds/cyoza
Summary: Kory and Gar bond over difficult times.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Koriand’r, Dick Grayson/koriand’r, Koriand'r & Garfield Logan
Comments: 10
Kudos: 96





	Come here

The cool autumn air was crisp as it nipped at Kory’s nose, sending sharp shards up her nostrils. She looked over the railings, gazing at the park below as the trees quivered gently, the breeze taking down multiples of amber leaves with it. 

Kory rarely ever felt the cold as acutely as her human counterparts but she had begun to really appreciate such frosty mornings like this one. There was something about the biting gusts of wind that invigorated her. The way she could feel the piercing breath travel completely down to her chest reminded her that she existed - that she was still here despite everything she had been through. As tough as it could be to keep going most of the time. 

The sound of the balcony door sliding open behind her pulled her from here revere. She turned to see Gar standing awkwardly by the door which piqued her interest. Gar was many things: energetic, excitable, enthusiastic but Kory would never attribute awkwardness to him. 

‘Hey, what’s up?’ Kory greeted, leaning on the railing behind her. She could see him battle with himself for a second, his lips pressed in a thin line and eyes unsure before he finally slumped slightly as if reaching a conclusion himself. 

‘Um, actually, it doesn’t matter. I’m just gonna go back inside, don’t worry about it.’ He shook his head with a tremulous smile, his emerald locks falling forward to somewhat shield his eyes. 

He turned to slide the balcony door back open when Kory spoke, halting his movements. 

‘Hey, of course it matters. Come here, tell me what you’re thinking.’ She beckoned him over, making space for him next to her. 

Gar looked at her for a few moments, contemplating his next moves but ultimately made his way over to her, saying nothing more as he placed his elbows on the metal railing. The silence dragged on and Kory let it, knowing that he would talk when he was ready. So they stood together, watching as the gales made sienna tornadoes out of leaves. Minutes went by before Gar finally broke the silence. 

‘I’m sorry I’ve been keeping you guys up. It can’t be fun being woken up in the middle of the night by a screaming teenager.’ He paused, his face vacant and haunted; obviously plagued by memories constructed by his own warring psyche. 

For weeks now, Gar had frequently jolted everyone from sleep between the hours of 2am-3am with blood curdling screams that reverberated through every hallway in the tower. The first few times it happened, all 6 Titans raced to his room panicked over what they might find but it quickly came to their knowledge that only Dick, Kory and Rachel could get near him close enough to begin to get him to calm down. So, eventually the rest of the team awakened but stayed in their rooms and instead got a debrief the following morning so as to not make things worse. Each time, Kory, Dick and Rachel had darted to his room to find him sweaty and glowing a low green whilst mumbling absently about CADMUS. It periodically took them a full hour minimum to settle him so they began insisting that Rachel instead also stayed in bed for fear that the lack of sleep would make her ill, very aware that teenagers needed more sleep than their adult bodies. But as much as they insisted, it didn’t stop the 14 year old from trailing behind Dick and Kory every single night. 

‘Garfield, we would wake up every single day of forever at any time of the night, I promise you. You have no reason to apologise. This isn’t your fault.’ She punctuated her statement by placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, turning parallel to him. 

The action seemed to trigger something in him as his eyes shot towards her, glazed over with liquid. He mimicked her, turning to face her but dropped his head, his gaze to the floor.

‘Thank you for saying that but Kory, it has to be my fault somewhere. The tiger is a part of me and it attacked those people, under my control. I attacked those people. And they’re dead Kory. They’re dead and it’s my fault.’ His head hung lower as he spoke, his hair the only visible part of his head but it was impossible to miss the drops of liquid dropping to the floor. 

Kory’s eyes softened as her heart clenched, completely affected by his words. She, however, could not let it show and instead hardened her resolve as she moved to lift his head up to see trails of tears coating his cheeks. 

‘Let me ask you something, Gar: did any part of you want to do any of those things?’ She enquired, already knowing the answer but also knowing that he needed to hear himself say it. 

‘Wha-No! Of course not! I didn’t even know it was happening until after it happened! But when I’m asleep, it’s like it all comes back to me. Like all I can taste in my mouth is their blood. Like I can feel my teeth ripping through their skin all over again. I can hear their screams.’ He broke off with a quiet sob but continued talking before Kory could so much as open her mouth. ‘The first time it happened, you know with that guy in the asylum, I rationalised it with what you told me, I needed to protect myself, if it hadn’t have been him then it would have been me. And then with Trigon. All times of survival. But I’ve hurt innocent people, Kory, and I didn’t even know I was doing it. But it’s still somehow tormenting me and I don’t know how to get it to stop.’ He collapsed in her arms with a wracking sob, his chest shaking with the force. 

Kory held him tightly as he continued to weep into her shoulder, raking a comforting hand through his hair. She felt slightly at a loss as she listened to his cries, but she hoped what she had to say next would give him some solace. She let out a deep sigh as she readied herself to speak but stopped short when her sensitive ears picked up on the rustling by the door. She shifted her eyes to see Dick standing at the door with his shoulder rested on the frame, still in pyjamas and hair rumpled from sleep. His arms dropped to his sides and he stood straighter as their eyes met. 

‘You okay?’ He mouthed to her. 

She responded with a small imperceptible nod of her head to reassure him but still he didn’t leave and instead stayed rooted in his spot. It oddly gave her a sense of support knowing he was there, given what she was going to say. So, she turned her attention back to Gar, bracketing his face in her hands. His cheeks were still damp to the touch but his sobs had lessened some, now only letting out quiet whimpers. 

‘Garfield, I’m going to tell you something. Something I haven’t really said to anyone before.’ She dropped her hands to clasp his own. ‘When I was younger, I was captured by an enemy ship. They were called the Citadel and we’d been at war with them for years. I was...fascinating to them. They wanted to know about Tamaraneans and in that included physiology. So...they experimented on me.’ 

Gar’s face morphed into appalled shock at her words and when she glanced over at Dick, she found a look that mirrored his. Suddenly she was transported to her youth and was seeing that expression on every person she came into contact with when she’d escaped back home. The insidious slither of victimisation threatening to make itself known but she steeled herself and reminded herself that she was no longer a victim but a survivor. So she continued talking. 

‘I won’t go into the details but it was tough, to say the least. And it took me a long time to even begin to know how to recover. This has just happened to you Gar, it’s still fresh so you need to give yourself time to heal. I know what it feels like to have your body not feel like it’s your own. Like it’s a vessel you exist outside of. It’s something I would never wish on anybody and I am so sorry you had to go through this. But I promise you, it will get easier. Maybe not as soon as you want and you’ll need a whole lot of help but you’ll get your body back and you will feel like yourself again. Perhaps not the you you were before but the you you get to decide to be. The you you get to feel comfortable existing in again...Wow, how many times can I say ‘you’ in less than 10 seconds.’

Gar let out a wounded chuckle, her quip lightening the mood slightly, just as she intended it to. He let go of her hands to swipe his own across his cheeks, drying them with the ruby hoodie he had on. He looked at her tenderly for a moment before pulled her into a tight embrace. 

‘Thank you, Kory. For sharing, for being here. For everything.’ He said, voice thick with emotion and clutching her tighter. 

‘Always, Gar.’ She returned the hug with equal vigour.

The cleared throat from the door had them pulling apart to see Dick smiling softly at them both. 

‘Hey, come on in you guys. Before you get a cold.’ He admonished but was only met with Kory’s rolling eyes. 

‘You know that’s impossible for me, Grayson.’ She chided. Then, she turned back to Gar, ruffling his hair slightly. ‘But you should go inside. Besides, I think I can smell eggs, you should get something to eat. I’ll meet you in there.’ 

Gar gave her one last smile before he shuffled past Dick inside, flashing another at him too. Suddenly, it was just the two of them. Dick strolled over to her and placed his hands at her waist, looking at her longingly as he pulled her closer. 

‘You’ve never told me about that before.’ He stated, no hint of accusation in his tone but rather concern. 

‘Yeah, well it never came up before. Plus you already know what a heinous bitch my sister is.’ She replied flatly, wrapping around her arms around his neck.

‘Your sister? What does your sister have to do with what happened to you?’ He asked incredulously. 

‘She’s the reason I got captured. She gave me up to them to get rid of me but I managed to escape and make it back before she could manipulate her way to the throne.’ She said it matter of factly, as if it wasn’t one of the most damaging things that ever happened to her. 

‘Holy shit, Kory, I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about it some more?’ 

‘Later.’ She leaned forward to peck him on the lips. ‘Right now, I know there are two jelly donuts waiting for me in the fridge.’ She untangled himself from his arms and slipped past him mumbling to herself. 

‘Or at least there better be, otherwise I’m burning this entire place down to the ground. My love for you guys be damned.’ 

Dick trailed behind her, chuckling quietly. He knew they had a lot more to talk about the topic, he could see that Kory wasn’t completely healed from it and Gar was nowhere near but they could take it one day at a time. Seeking help wherever they could.

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys! kind of long author’s note, sorry! 
> 
> I found a few prompt lists and on one of them was ‘Come here’ and all I could think about mother and son duo Kory and Gar so I wrote from that angle. 
> 
> I looked up the wikipedia page for Kory because I kinda saw some info about her past on the net but didn’t know for sure so I kinda just skim read through it and drew different things that I read. 
> 
> I guess its kinda of an au? or non cannon? idk the proper terms I am still learning. But it’s set assuming the Titans have rescued Gar but before all the troubles over
> 
> It’s kinda of long sorry, I tried to shorten it so it wasn’t too long but yno it is what it is 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!


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